Orgeron's firing in November had effect on rest of Ole Miss staff

Hugh Freeze landed on his feet after Ed Orgeron's firing at Ole Miss, becoming head coach at Lambuth College in Jackson, Tenn. Freeze is the former coach at Briarcrest Christian. Lambuth has applied to join the Gulf South Conference as an NCAA Division 2 program in 2010.

Photo courtesy of Lambuth University

John Thompson

Former Ole Miss offensive line coach Art Kehoe remains unemployed after Orgeron was let go last November. Five other members of the staff have found jobs.

Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal files

Former Rebel offensive coordinator Dan Werner is taking his time in his job search. Werner said he plans to spend the next few months visiting with different staffs as a sort of sabbatical.

Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal files

OXFORD, Miss. -- There are predictable rhythms to John Thompson's life. He spends 10 minutes each weekday morning driving his two young sons to school, then 10 minutes each afternoon picking them up. For a man whose life was once consumed by recruiting trips, staff meetings and film sessions, these excursions are "wonderful pleasures."

Thompson, who has had five months to adjust to being Ole Miss' former defensive coordinator, has tried to keep himself occupied. He chauffeurs his kids, enjoys lunch with his wife -- and makes copies. Lots and lots of copies.

"The folks at Sir Speedy and I have gotten pretty close," said Thompson, who has been compiling and revising 30 years' worth of playbooks.

When Ed Orgeron was fired as Ole Miss' football coach last November, much attention was paid to the program's future. Houston Nutt arrived less than a week later and began assembling his own staff, making Thompson and the rest of Orgeron's assistants about as relevant as leather helmets. Orgeron soon accepted an offer to become the New Orleans Saints' defensive line coach, but his assistants are still coping with change -- and, in several cases, with unemployment. Four members of Orgeron's nine-man staff are still searching for work.

"It would be a miracle if I wind up coaching this fall," said Thompson, aware that the winter-spring hiring period has come and gone.

Many of Thompson's former colleagues have scattered. Hugh Freeze accepted the head coaching position at Lambuth University. Chris Rippon landed at Rutgers, where he coaches special teams. Tony Hughes and Frank Wilson are assistants at Southern Miss. And Dave Corrao is the defensive quality-control coach for the Miami Dolphins.

Thompson, meantime, has remained in Oxford along with two other members of Orgeron's staff, former offensive coordinator Dan Werner and offensive line coach Art Kehoe, who have attacked the job market with varying degrees of urgency. Werner said he has chosen to be selective, to wait for the right opportunity. And Kehoe?

"I'm looking as hard as I can," said Kehoe, who estimated that he has contacted 120 college programs and 24 NFL teams.

And though he plans to continue his own search, Thompson at least has the sort of financial security -- his $300,000 annual contract expires in June 2009 -- that affords him time for his new vocation. Thumbing his way through three-ring binders full of schemes he has developed over the course of his career, Thompson sorts the good from the bad, separating what worked from what failed. Then he heads to Sir Speedy, the printing store on Jackson Avenue.

"That part has been really fun and interesting, organizing the material," said Thompson, who acknowledged that adjusting to life without coaching has presented challenges. "It took me a long time, to be frank with you. It was a struggle: 'OK, what is my purpose today?' But in some ways, it's really been a blessing. I've gotten to spend time with my wife and my kids. And I do keep busy, even though I couldn't tell you what I really accomplish a lot of days."

Thompson said he wants to coach more now than he ever has, and Kehoe feels the same way, albeit for slightly different reasons. With his Ole Miss contract set to expire in June, Kehoe said he has real-world concerns, such as paying the bills -- and his mortgages. He owns a second home in Miami, which has been on the market for months.

Kehoe, who had never been out of work for longer than two hours in his 26-year coaching career, said the whole situation feels foreign. When he was fired from Miami three years ago, Orgeron called him that afternoon: How would he like to join him at Ole Miss?

Friends have provided solace. Alex Gibbs, an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, in Kehoe's opinion, the finest offensive line coach in the game, told him how he has moved his family 21 times during the course of his career. It can be a nomadic lifestyle.

Kehoe said he has been in the mix for several openings -- "I've had two or three jobs where I had 12 friends call for me," he said -- but nothing has panned out. Part of what makes the process tough, he said, are his strong feelings for Oxford. He said he loves the community. He and his wife have two young children, and they like the school system.

"You know, we wish we could have made it another year and maybe gotten over the hump, but it didn't happen," Kehoe said. "I've just got to be positive. I'm not going to dwell on the negatives. I'll keep pushing and straining, and I know things will work out for me and my family. Because they have to."

Coaching tends not to be an easy profession for young families. Jobs are gained and lost, houses bought and sold, children forced into new schools. This weighed on Werner as he explored his options. Once upon a time, he said, he would have jumped at the first offer. But his priorities have shifted, especially because of his 9-year-old daughter.

"I'd like to wait until something good comes along," Werner said. "And I didn't find anything that was worth moving my family for. And the big thing is, my family loves it here in Oxford. And we wanted to let my daughter go to school. You know, she was actually excited when she found out I didn't get a job this year."

Werner said he plans to spend the next few months visiting with different staffs, as a sort of sabbatical.

"I want to get out there and learn new schemes, new ideas," he said. "I'm actually going to study as much as I can through the summer."

Freeze, the former wide receivers coach, took an unconventional route to gainful employment, accepting the head-coaching position at Lambuth, an NAIA program in Jackson, Tenn. Freeze said Vic Wallace, the school's outgoing coach, approached him about the job in January at the American Football Coaches Association's annual convention in Anaheim, Calif. Wallace encouraged Freeze to speak with Lambuth's president and athletics director.

"You have to listen to these guys, learn about their vision for the program," Wallace said, according to Freeze.

That word -- vision -- appealed to Freeze, who liked the idea of having complete control of a program, of building something -- much as he did as the coach at Briarcrest Christian from 1995 to 2004. Lambuth has applied to join the Gulf South Conference as an NCAA Division 2 program in 2010.

"I know a lot of people raised their eyebrows when I came here," Freeze said. "But I want to see what I can do. I want to get my own guys in here, do it with character and the principles I believe in, and get to see my kids grow up."

Freeze has three daughters -- ages 9, 8 and 5 -- who have remained in Oxford with his wife for the time being. The Freezes have been trying to sell their home since January.

"I understand everything that happened in Oxford," Freeze said, "but it's not the easiest thing to be back there on the weekend. You do feel the tug to be back there."

Though Freeze expressed gratitude toward Orgeron -- "I know people look at me like I'm crazy when I say that, but he was really good to me," Freeze said -- a portrait has emerged in recent months, through conversations with people close to the program, of Orgeron as a controlling figure who resisted input from his staff.

In his wake -- his blustery, hard-edged, tumultuous wake -- his assistants have sought new opportunities. Some have revised their goals. Thompson, who was part of the staff for only one season, said he no longer harbors big dreams about being a head coach, or even a coordinator.

"I just want to work for good people in a good place," he said. "If I could do that, I'd do that tomorrow. But I'm not going to take a job just for the sake of taking a job, anymore. Life's too short, man."

Where are they now?

When Ole Miss fired head coach Ed Orgeron after three seasons, his nine assistant coaches also found themselves out of work. Only five -- plus Orgeron himself -- have found new jobs in coaching: